Who is the real villain in Link's Awakening? Is there even one?

[RobaFett]

So the other day I was listening to a Zelda lore podcast called The Book of Mudora in which they were discussing certain aspects of LA. In it they brought up a point that I thought was interesting: Are the Nightmares really the villains of the game? All the things they do, they do only to ensure their own survival. According to the manual (or in-game text, I can't remember), monsters weren't exist on the island until Link came, which implies that before, the Nightmares were content to just rule the island in secret and leave it's "people" in peace. With Link's arrival it is only then that they decide to fight back to ensure that this boy doesn't wipe them out. You could say their only real crime would be keeping the Wind Fish in a dream state against it's will, but when it was the Wind Fish's subconscious who created them unwillingly and once they became aware of what they were, then they did what any other thing in this world tries to do; survive. They don't want to die anymore than anyone else does.

So if not them who could be considered the villain? The Wind Fish? I mean he did force Link against his will to help him. He purposely caused a storm that wrecked his ship that for all intent and purpose could have killed him. Then literally keeps him a prisoner on the island and will only release him when he fulfills what the Wind Fish wants him to do. Giving Link no other choice but to undergo a quest whose outcome will essentially kill all of the island's inhabitants. And then at the end, he just leaves Link stranded in the middle of the ocean. That's kind of a dick move. He could've at least given his savior a ride back to land. On the other hand, despite it's faults, all the Wind Fish wants to so is to wake up and continue on with it's life. Is that so bad? Is it a crime to want to stop sleeping?

What about Link? Sure he goes along at first, but once he learns the truth of the island, does he even care? Does he just see his actions as a means to an end? Throughout the game you never really see Link convey remorse for what he has to do. I realize this could be chalked up to the limitations of the hardware the game was on, but they could have conveyed through text from NPCs about how he is acting strange or seems sadden about something. And as far as I can remember nothing like that occurs.

I realize I maybe reading to much into things here, but after listening to that podcast it made me look more closely into the game than I ever really bothered to do. It certainly has given me more respect for the game and the messages it may be trying to say might be more deep than I ever realized. What do you all think?

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

...Dethl?

 

[RobaFett]

...Dethl?

Sure ok.

 

[YIGAhim]

I am not sure there is one, now that I think about it... I will have to look deeper into it

 

[Darthnut]

The real villain is Link's sword. Without it, millions of innocent creatures could have avoided the slaughterhouse. Their aggressive actions were only in hopeless self defense as they were mercilessly chopped into bits. The bloodlust held in that tool of the apocalypse is too much for even a young boy to resist. Poor Link, he has to made into a Hero to disguise the brutal desires held within that blade. Not to mention, the sword is what drove Link to destroy an entire island. This craft of Demise needs to be stopped!

 

[WraithHawk]

Link is the true villain of the game. He knowingly commits the island's inhabitants, people who took him in, nursed him back to health and aided him on his quest, to the void. People who, while in strictest sense may not be real, are real enough that the prospect of ending their existence should raise a whole host of ethical dilemmas. This is made so much worse by Link's motivation to leave the island. While not stated in the game context from the Oracle games reveals that he was on his way home to Hyrule from Holodrum and Labrynna. There's no sense of urgency to his return to Hyrule, he's just...going home. No big, dastardly evil to defeat other than the ones on the island who, really, are doing little more sinister than living. Is the life of the Wind Fish, who gets to live multiple and varied lives vicariously through its dream constructs, really worth the wholesale oblivion (including that of Link, as he will almost surly die at sea clinging to that piece of driftwood) that its awakening causes?

Edit: I also don't think we can use hardware limitations as an excuse for Link not reacting to the big reveal. There were plenty of ways to do that back then, and even to have them remain "in character" for a silent protagonist. Your suggestion is but one of many.

 

[RobaFett]

But what other choice does Link have? If he doesn't wake the Wind Fish, he will never be able to leave. Also hasn't the recent change to the timeline removed the oracle games to after LA and states that that is a different Link? If that's the case then he does have some sense of urgency to get back. He has no idea what could have happened in his absence. What if Ganon or some other new evil force has returned to try to take over Hyrule? Plus, its not like he doesn't have friends and family of his own to get back too. At the very least he needs to get back to his duty of protecting the royal family as a knight. He didn't asked for this, he was unwillingly forced into this situation. Should he really sacrifice his real life for an island of fake lives? Marin and Talon (but mostly Marin) are really the only ones who saved his life and he saves theirs on multiple occasions throughout the game, so I think its safe to say that the debt has been repaid. Plus his actions do help Marin escape, who arguably would have been the only "real" casualty because there are hints of her developing a consciousness in regards of something not right with the island.

 

[WraithHawk]

Also hasn't the recent change to the timeline removed the oracle games to after LA and states that that is a different Link

As far as I'm aware Hyrule Historia is still the canon timeline and that places the Oracle games before LA (and confirms that the Link from all three is the same as LttP's Link).

But what other choice does Link have? If he doesn't wake the Wind Fish, he will never be able to leave.

And that's not an inherently bad thing. Koholint is a veritable paradise* and Link clearly has the interest of its most eligible bachelorette. He could build a very pleasant life for himself.

*Sure there are monsters but they don't seem to cause much trouble overall, largely keeping to themselves, and Link is more than capable of handling any trouble that occurs.

Should he really sacrifice his real life for an island of fake lives? Marin and Talon (but mostly Marin) are really the only ones who saved his life and he saves theirs on multiple occasions throughout the game, so I think its safe to say that the debt has been repaid.

Well that's borderline sociopathic. This isn't about debts and payments it's about the ethical implications of destroying the lives of people who, while artificial, are indistinguishable from natural born humans if you aren't explicitly told that they're not.

If you woke up in a mansion with a handful of pleasant roommates and a constantly replenished supply of food, water and entertainment and were told that you couldn't leave until you killed your roommates, you wouldn't do it, right? You'd at least try to figure out some alternate means of escape. But if you were then told that it's okay to kill them because they're a robot (and not even given proof of it), it wouldn't magically change your mind, right? Now imagine that the person telling you all this is some random guy you fought at the bar last night. That's the kind of situation Link is thrust into on Koholint.

Plus his actions do help Marin escape, who arguably would have been the only "real" casualty because there are hints of her developing a consciousness in regards of something not right with the island.

The problem with consequentialism (the ends justify the means) is that it too often dismisses intent, and even other consequences, as relevant factors, so long as the outcome is "right". But if we really want to invoke consequentialism then we can liken this dilemma to the Trolley Problem. In short, a trolley is barreling down the tracks towards five people, who cannot move and will surely die. You can't stop it but you can switch the trolley to another track, where only one person will die.

The consequentialist view is that steering the trolley to the track with one person is morally right, as inaction would make you responsible for five deaths rather than one. Now even if we accept that Marin is the only "real" inhabitant of Kohilint we'll still come to the conclusion that it is morally wrong to wake the Wind Fish. Why? Because if we accept that Marin is real by virtue of "being in the know" then we have to accept that the Nightmares are, too. And with four Nightmares still alive (including Dethl) when Link learns the truth of Koholint that brings the count of "real" island inhabitants to five.

And before we dust of the "inherent evil" chestnut, remember that the Nightmares are not actively doing harm. By all appearances they stole the instruments to prevent the Wind Fish's awakening and went deep into hiding with them. Granted, we don't know how much control they have over the monsters in the overworld but even then those monsters don't cause much trouble for the rest of the island's inhabitants. As far as we can tell the only motivation the Nightmares have is to continue living and they only act to protect themselves.

So even discounting the reality of 99% of the island's inhabitants we still find five whose deaths are ethical questionable (I can't in good conscience consider Marin's survival because it can't be predicted beforehand. Suspected, perhaps, but that's not good enough). So our morally just choice, even by "the ends justify the means" is to send the trolley towards the Wind Fish.